What we've been up to....

It's hard to believe Christmas is only 2 days away. Life has been full in our home as I'm sure it is in most every household. We have slowed down our homeschooling which is always such a great relief for all of us. We have time to bake, make our annual picture ornament, visit with friends, watch silly Christmas videos, read our ample supply of Christmas books, and most importantly, prepare our hearts with advent activities such as the Noel Calendar and for the first time this year, Adorenaments. My wise friend,Kim recommended taking a full break from school during this time before Christmas and this has really been such a gift to us these past 2 years. In previous years I would try to do all of the above AND continue schooling...not a wise idea!! I am finally learning my limitations :)!!
I have loads of pictures to share...Enjoy!
Love,
MamaB for all 8 of us~
PS: My cyber boy was itching to make a few changes to the blog... He added links to my favorite blogs and a little area for you to subscribe so that you will receive a link (for example: through your my yahoo or google page) whenever I write a new post .Oh, the wonders of this technological age :) Just look to the right side of this post~

It was cold outside but the wood burning stove made the room nice and toasty...I thought it was cute how 3 of the 4 boys were snoozing together for a Sunday afternoon nap :)

Another snapshot of grace....I came in one morning from my jog and found these 2 working on this book together in our still dark and quiet house ~

Mimi and Pop Pop came over for Mimi's birthday dinner and in spite of it being 'her' day, she made the day extra special for all the kids. She helped them make and decorate Gingerbread houses...a tradition we have skipped for the past 2 years. Mercy and Odesco were thrilled with this new Christmas tradition and I was brought to a new awareness of how much the others missed it!!

P and C's masterpiece...notice the Phillies "P"?! A definite theme this year as you will see when you scroll down and look at the ornaments some of the boys made!

Hard at work!!!

G's turn...same house, different angle :)

Silly boys!! They do everything with zest and zeal and lots of noise!!

No visit with Pop-Pop is complete without game playing...

... a crossword puzzle!

...or just being a good sport as the younger crowd climb all over him!

For a family nite' we played Journey to Bethlehem...you can read about it here.. In case you're wondering, L is a shepherd ( with the towel on his head)...the socks on the hands were another prompt in this silly family game!

Goofing around...

Just a random picture..I never know who is going to show up at our table for school--this day it was Bibleman....

...a few days later, the Lone Ranger showed up for breakfast!!

One COLD Saturday night, we joined many families from church to go Christmas caroling in nearby neighborhoods. We handed out boxes of candy to those who opened their doors and the residents were then assured we were not looking to invite them to church or receive anything in return...we just wanted to bless them this Christmas season. When we decided it was time to thaw out, we headed back to a central indoor location to meet the other carolers for hot cocoa, homemade cookies, and a few fun Christmas games!

In mid December, L was thrilled to be invited to A's(on the far right) birthday party-- this was one of his buddies from soccer who we have not seen since October. After the party , we set up a playdate and we invited the Kachs to join us since they have known this sweet family for a few years. Between the 3 families we had 16 kiddos....fun, fun, fun!!

Boy power!!

The girls were a little more subdued during their visit!

Mercy made a new friend!

Ornament time...this year I could not find any of the premade oval or square paper mache ornaments with a hole cut out for a picture so we had to get a bit more creative...I just bought plain wood ovals for the boys and hearts for the girls...they all did a great job :) This is one of my favorite Christmas treasures...I love looking at the line of pictures on the tree for each child and seeing how much they have each grown and changed over the years...a bit bittersweet for this sentimental mama. It's fun also to see their personality emerge in their artwork...

Artists at work...

Voila!! As you can see, the Phillies theme was big amongst the boys...except for L who insisted on a Star Wars ornament...like I said, their personalities certainly emerge during this activity!! If you click on the picture you can see them close up :)

A glimpse of our picture laden tree!

Before church on Sunday...Miss Mercy decided to help G blow dry and style her hair...future calling, perhaps?! I always tell Mercy I think she will have a hair salon called "Mercy Me--from Messes to Miracles"--We'll see what the Lord has in store for her :)

G was my baking helper for the day... every year we make Grandmom B's famous pumpkin bread in mini loaves...I lost count but I think we made about 60 loaves over 3 baking sessions.